The Source

NEW YORK, June 25, 2018 – Cedar, the patient financial management platform for hospitals, health systems and independent medical groups, today announced a Series B fundraising round of $36 million, led by the global investment company Kinnevik. Participants in the round include existing investors Founders Fund and Thrive Capital, as well as Lakestar, Sound Ventures, Kevin Systrom of Instagram and Nat Turner of Flatiron Health.

“In recent years, patient responsibility for healthcare payments has steadily increased. However, few existing revenue cycle solutions are fully targeted toward resolving patient payment challenges, driving increased friction between healthcare organizations and patients,” said Florian Otto, Co-founder and CEO, Cedar. “We founded Cedar to transform the patient financial experience. Based on our rapid growth, it’s clear that a digital health platform that simplifies patient billing transactions, drives increased engagement and optimizes provider processes is sorely needed. We’re pleased with the strong show of support from our investors and partners, and look forward to further enhancing our platform for patients and providers.”

Cedar’s client base includes Montefiore Medical Center, U.S. Anesthesia Partners and Westmed Medical Group, among a number of other healthcare organizations across the country. Currently, Cedar interacts with nearly 100,000 patients nationwide on behalf of its clients, facilitating tens of thousands of billing transactions per month. Clients have seen a 35 percent increase in collections, greater than 50 percent reduction in A/R days and 95 percent patient satisfaction rate. In addition, more than 80 percent of patients pay after accessing the platform’s live chat functionality.

“Today, it’s more critical than ever to deliver a patient-first experience, particularly given the changing dynamics in the healthcare payment space,” said Chris Bischoff, Senior Investment Director, Kinnevik. “Cedar uniquely understands these needs and has built a platform that enables healthcare organizations to engage with their patients in a seamless, delightful manner while realizing significant ROI results.”

“At Westmed, we are focused on raising the bar and partnering with patients to deliver comprehensive, lifelong care. We care deeply about the patient experience and believe that modern technology such as Cedar’s plays a fundamental role in helping us achieve that goal,” said Vicki McKinney, Chief Operating Officer, Westmed Practice Partners.

Cedar will use the funding to further invest in the next generation of its innovative platform as well as build out its existing team. Later this year, the company plans to unveil new features and functionality that will enable healthcare organizations to further engage with patients, both prior to and after their visits.